1. Technical Field
Various embodiments generally relate to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a buffer circuit for amplifying an input signal.
2. Related Art
A buffer circuit refers to a circuit configured for sensing and amplifying input signals and generating output signals. An electronic device including a semiconductor device can be operated while transmitting and receiving signals between internal components or external components. The transmission and reception of signals may be more precisely performed through a buffer circuit. The buffer circuit can repeat a signal or convert a signal with a small swing into a signal with a large swing.
With the improvement in integration and power consumption of electronic devices, the level of a power supply voltage used in the electronic devices has continuously decreased. When the level of the power supply voltage decreases, the swing of a signal transmitted between internal components of an electronic device or between an external component and the electronic device also decreases. Thus, the waveform of the signal may become sensitive to a process, voltage, or temperature variations, and signal distortion may occur more easily. Therefore, for accurate signal transmission and reception to occur for a circuit, the operational stability of the buffer circuit is one of the most important factors.
A generally used buffer circuit is a differential amplifier buffer circuit. The differential amplifier buffer circuit may compare an input signal to a reference signal, and amplify a voltage level difference between the input signal and the reference signal. Since the differential amplifier buffer circuit amplifies a voltage difference between the input signal and the reference signal, a voltage difference between the input signal and the reference signal becomes an important factor for determining a gain and amplification speed of the buffer circuit.